Online Communities and Entrepreneuring Mothers:
Practices of Building, Being and Belonging
Abstract
Informed by contributions of Professor Alistair Anderson to social perspective of
entrepreneurship, rooted in the relations and social capital, this article examines how members
of an online community collectively interpret and negotiate the challenges of pursuing
entrepreneurship alongside parenthood. Article adopts a multi-staged research design,
incorporating netnography, participant observation, and qualitative semi-structured interviews.
The analysis reveals the critical role of networking in how entrepreneuring women construct
and maintain community connections and distinguishes between three dimensions of
community engagement: Building, Being and Belonging. Drawing on communities of practice
as an analytical lens, we offer new insights into the form and function of communal
entrepreneurial practices facilitated by the digital environment.
Key Words: entrepreneurship, motherhood, online communities; communities of practice;
gender
Introduction
In his inspirational works, Professor Alistair Anderson, envisioned entrepreneurship as
a phenomenon that is multi-faceted, a complex social construct, that could be enacted in a
variety of contexts by different actors. Many of his articles define entrepreneurship as the
creation or extraction of value (Alvarez and Busenitz, 2001; Diochon and Anderson, 2011;
Gaddefors and Anderson, 2016) that emerges from connections to, and between, processes,
people and places (Anderson et al. 2012) and relies on relatedness and interaction of these
elements. Prior research has established that entrepreneurship is produced in social interactions
(Chell, 2000); and that entrepreneurship relies on change in the context of the opportunity as
well as the outcomes that it produces (Jack et al., 2008). Alistair Anderson (Anderson et al.,
2012; Gaddefors and Anderson, 2017) also noted that the context shapes the entrepreneurs,
whilst the entrepreneurs also shape the context through entrepreneurial actions and practices,
something he referred to as entrepreneuring. Entrepreneuring can also be defined as efforts to
bring about new economic, social, institutional, and cultural environments through the actions
of an individual or a group of individuals (Rindova et al. 2009). Prof. Anderson drew his
inspiration from the perspective that entrepreneurship is a socially situated, collective practice
(Johannisson 1988).
In this paper we take our inspiration from the totality of Alistair Anderson’s
contributions to the field of entrepreneurship scholarship and adopting a social science
perspective, we focus on a specific set of entrepreneurial actors - women, who are mothers,
who engage in entrepreneuring. The profile of the quintessential entrepreneur has been
represented as the heroic male (Essers and Benschop, 2007; Ahl and Marlow, 2012; Marlow
and McAdam, 2015), who is driven solely by economic gain (Ahl, 2006). Accordingly, little
is known about the processes that underpin successful identity management and adaptation for
women entrepreneurs in general and entrepreneuring mothers in particular who must negotiate
their affiliation with multiple and not always complimentary domains of social accountability
(Ekinsmyth, 2013).
The field of entrepreneurial identity adaptation represents a dynamic and rapidly
developing area within women’s entrepreneurship (Chasserio, et al., 2014; Garcia and Welter,
2013; Hoang and Gimeno, 2010; Swail and Marlow, 2018; Meek and Wood, 2016). Such
scholarly endeavours have underscored that the challenges associated with reconciling the
incongruent identities of being an entrepreneur and its associated masculine identity and being
a mother are also influenced by social expectations of women. This is of significance as
becoming an entrepreneur for mothers shifts the importance from the identity negotiation
towards acceptance through identity reconciliation (Swail and Marlow, 2018; Radu-Lefebvre
et al., 2021; Duberley & Carrigan, 2012; Ekinsmyth, 2011).
Within this article, we are specifically interested in how online communities may
support identity adaptation for entrepreneuring mothers. Building on key scholarly
contributions by Anderson and Gaddefors (2016) which presents entrepreneurship as a
community phenomenon, and the communities of practice literature (Lave & Wenger, 1991;
Wenger, 1999; Wenger et al., 2002), we argue that (CoP) theory provides a useful analytical
frame as it seeks to explain how individuals learn through co-participation in the shared and
situated practices of their “lived-in” world. This is particularly relevant for entrepreneuring
mothers who may face significant practical and psychological barriers to belonging that may
hinder their participation in more traditional business networks and entrepreneurial
communities. We view CoPs as places where shared interests and passion drive social
interaction between individuals and interactions are replete with opportunities for social
learning and identity negotiation (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1999; Wenger et al.,
2002). Accordingly, the aim of this article is to examine how entrepreneuring mothers create
and maintain community connections in an online environment that may facilitate development
of entrepreneurial competencies, support identity adaptation and potentially reconcile role
tension.
The empirical setting for our study is Mumsnet.com, the UKs biggest online community
for parents, which attracts 9.4 million unique visitors per month (Mumsnet, 2017). Within its
Mumsnet Talk section, the network hosts a range of discussion topics. We conceptualise the
specific thematic discussion groups that are focused on start-ups and business as a community
of practice (Wenger, 1999); we do so because Mumsnet.com enables individuals to
congregate—united by common goals and meaning—and to share knowledge and act
collectively via agreed modes of communication (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1999).
Aligning to our research aim, we adopt a multi-staged research design, incorporating
participant observations (Spradley, 1980) at Workfest—a physical event organised and
promoted by Mumsnet (Jorgensen, 1989; Gaddefors and Anderson, 2017); a series of
qualitative interviews with delegates and contributors attending Workfest, and elements of a
netnographic approach to examine online community interactions (Kozinets, 2002, 2019).
Within this article, we offer the following theoretical contributions. First, we contribute
to the literature on entrepreneurship as a community phenomenon (Anderson and Gaddefors,
2016) by revealing how social media platforms provide opportunities for women to collectively
interpret and navigate the challenges they encounter in combining parenthood and
entrepreneurship. In so doing, we propose a conceptual model of three overlapping domains of
community engagement akin to ontological processes in entrepreneurship (Wade, Smith and
Anderson, 2003), building (productive networking and information exchange), belonging
(support and social anchorage) and being (identity adaptation and self-narrative co-creation).
Second, we contribute to the literature on entrepreneurial identity (Ladge, et al, 2012; Stryker
and Burke, 2000; Watson, 2009) by illuminating patterns of engagement in an online
community associated with ongoing identity adaptation of entrepreneuring mothers. We
identify the specific characteristics of the community host and of the supporting technology
that combine to alleviate identity dissonance and facilitate self-disclosure.
This paper is structured as follows. It commences with a discrete analysis of the key
theoretical constructs at the intersection of entrepreneurship and motherhood pertaining to
identity adaptation, the online environment and entrepreneurial communities of practice. This
is followed by its methodological rationale and method. We then present a critical evaluation
of our empirical evidence. Finally, we consider the implications of the arguments presented in
terms of the contribution to women’s entrepreneurship research and practice and conclude with
recommendations for future research.
Our Theoretical Framework
Identity, Entrepreneurship and Motherhood
Historically, entrepreneurship has been viewed as a male activity, with Connell (1995)
presenting conceptions of the entrepreneur through the lens of hegemonic masculinity (Bruni,
et al. 2004; Collinson and Hearn, 1996; Dodd & Anderson, 2007). Critics of the inherently
individualistic perspective of “entrepreneur as a hero” (Anderson and Warren, 2011), contest
this notion through linking the socially constructed notions of gender and entrepreneurial
practice as a gendered practice, thereby describing entrepreneurship as a set of processes that
position entrepreneurial actors – ‘men’ and ‘women’ within the business practice as
‘entrepreneurs’ (Bruni, et al., 2004), hence shifting the gaze towards the performative aspects
of these processes. With regards to “gender as a performance”, it is important to highlight the
relevance of the ‘gender display’ perspective developed by Goffman (1976) which precedes
the ‘doing gender’ perspective adopted in studies of entrepreneurship (Butler, 1990; Gherardi,
1995; Kessler and McKenna, 1978; West and Zimmerman, 1987), which in fact specifies that
gender is a socially embedded practice, and not an individual biological attribute.
Employing a social construction perspective reflecting the appreciation that
entrepreneurs can be understood better in their social milieu (Dodd and Anderson, 2007). The
experience of traversing a complex entrepreneurial landscape, where women are positioned as
the ‘other’ (Ahl and Marlow, 2012; Oseen, 1997) whilst maintaining a coherent sense of self
may be particularly difficult. According to Watson (2009) the entrepreneurial identity is a
cultural stereotype; with the cultural stereotype of an entrepreneur marked by masculinity
(Giazitzoglu and Down, 2017; Ufuk and Özgen, 2001). Indeed, the image of a white middleaged male typifies the entrepreneurial identity in most theoretical and practical discussions
(Marlow and McAdam, 2015; McAdam et al., 2020). Despite this, little is known about the
processes that underpin successful identity management and adaptation for women
entrepreneurs. Such identity negotiation may be particularly challenging for entrepreneuring
mothers who must negotiate their affiliation with multiple and not always complimentary
domains of social accountability (Ekinsmyth, 2013). While not all mothers who set up
businesses around children choose to identify with a distinctive entrepreneurial category, this
work highlights the value of feminized worker-identity positions insomuch as they enable
group-identity formation.
Identity theory is a social psychological theory that emerged from structural symbolic
interactionism (Burke and Stets, 2009; Stryker and Burke, 2000). From this perspective, the
self is fundamentally inter-subjective: as Baldauf et al. (2017) argue, the answer to the question,
"who am I" can only be understood in comparison to a "you". Identity management requires
an engagement in ongoing impression management, as individuals position themselves in
alignment or opposition to others according to both internalized social norms and individual
beliefs and values (Swan, 2002; Stryker and Burke, 2000). Weber and Mitchell's (2008: 44)
term "identities-in-action" aptly captures the extent to which identity is something we do, not
who we are; a very real form of work - especially when tensions arise between different or
conflicting identity positions during major life transitions.
According to Ladge et al. (2012), liminal periods like the transition to motherhood
require considerable identity adaptation, as women seek to reconcile professional and maternal
identities and minimise identity dissonance. Such identity adaptation can be understood in
relation to the dynamic interplay between one’s own self-reflection (i.e., self-identity) and
engagement with the “cultural, discursive or institutional notions” that define one’s selves (i.e.
social identities) (Watson, 2008, p.131). This relational view recognizes identity as a fluid
ongoing project that is shaped through discourse (Anderson, Pack and Jack, 2007; Watson,
2009). Entrepreneurial mothers are further obliged to negotiate the dissonance between their
ascribed femininity and the masculinity inherent within entrepreneurship. Indeed, Duberley
and Carrigan (2012) have highlighted the incompatibility of a normative entrepreneurial
identity and attachment of parenting ideals. Whereas the pursuit of work-life balance is often
cited by successful female entrepreneurs as justification for the pursuit of an entrepreneurial
career path, this is rarely achieved in practice (Eddleston & Powell, 2012) and mothers’
entrepreneurial ambitions may be stifled by geographically and temporally restrictive domestic
routines (Ekinsmyth, 2013). Therefore, entrepreneurship for mothers is not just an activity
(building a business) but also a significant and sustained identity project (becoming an
entrepreneur) (Warren, 2004). Marks (2020: 19) identifies ‘being able to consider yourself a
good mother’ as one explicit gendered ‘reward’ of entrepreneurship that is often a key
component of some of the more contrived performances of successful female entrepreneurs
who are often invited to act as role models to promote female entrepreneurship. However, as
Marks argues convincingly, a woman’s life and goals are apt to change faster than their
business’s, thus it is important that psychological rewards such as identity congruity (Eikhof
et al., 2013) do not overshadow the importance of sustainable financial business performance
or create a false promise for aspirant entrepreneurs (Ahl & Marlow, 2021).
Communities of Practice – the relationship between practice, identity, belonging and
meaning
The examination of entrepreneurial activity through the lens of community highlights
the collaborative nature of entrepreneurship and underscores its social embeddedness
(Anderson and Gaddefors, 2016; Jennings & Brush, 2013). According to communities of
practice theory, the production of knowledge is the result of situated, contextual and social
engagement with practices and learning (Lesser & Storck, 2001; Wenger, McDermott, &
Snyder, 2002). This is particularly appropriate when considering entrepreneurship, which
research has shown to be both embedded in and shaped by multiple structural and institutional
contexts including family and gender (Aldrich & Cliff, 2003, Brush et al., 2009; Marlow &
Martinez Dy, 2018).
Seen as a community-based phenomenon entrepreneurship is embedded in the place,
and it is being continuously recreated and moulded in interactions between social practices and
the spatial environment (Anderson and Gaddefors, 2016; Cresswell, 2006). Indeed, in their
view place can be viewed as a community, in they argue that places are the source of
community persistence. From sociology we know that community is intrinsically connected
with place (Barrett, 2014) and therefore exhibits the characteristics of propinquity, population
stability and continuous interaction patterns. Indeed, place have the ability to shape the agency
and offer structure to its participants. Whilst the communities may be seen as places where
people connect and interact, communities also develop as social entities with connections that
can be greater than kinship (Cohen, 2013). Other authors, also describe communities as a place
that precipitates shared sentiments and expectations and generates strong feelings of
community attachment (Markey et al., 2010). Anderson and Gaddefors (2016) also suggest that
communities may act as centers of meanings, and for an individual to belong to a community
requires sharing of some of these meanings and practices.
CoP emphasizes the relationships between what we do, who we are and the extent to
which we perceive ourselves to belong, thus underscoring the dynamic nature of identity that
is constructed and reconstructed through ongoing negotiation in social systems (Wenger &
Snyder, 2000). In earlier stages of the evolution of CoP theory, learning was presented as a
process of becoming; a form of trajectory into a particular community (Lave & Wenger, 1991).
More recent developments stress the requirement for ongoing identity adaptation, with
increasing onus placed on the individual to negotiate their identification with multiple,
interconnected and overlapping constellations of communities that make up more complex,
contemporary landscapes of practice (Wenger, 2009, Omidvar & Kislov 2014). Despite the
early efforts of Eckert & McConnell-Ginet (1992, p. 95), who argued that “gender is produced
(and often reproduced) in differential memberships in communities of practice”, to date, gender
has rarely been discussed in relation to CoPs. Individuals produce themselves as ‘gendered’
subjects by habitually engaging in those social practices of a community—i.e., in different
CoPs— that are practically and/or symbolically associated with that community's notions of
masculinity or femininity (Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 1992). Just as women or men will
become involved in ‘gendered’ CoPs, they will also experience identity-related communal
practices differently.
Online Communities and Identity adaptation
There is an increasing body of research suggesting that online communities may
support processes of identity negotiation and adaptation that are ongoing in liminal periods and
also provide extensive opportunities for social learning that is central to successful
communities of practice (Phillips & Broderick, 2014; Warren, 2004). The online environment
may also reduce geographical and temporal constraints and enhance some of the relational
aspects of identity adaptation for example by increasing perceived similarity of interaction
partners (Walther 1993, 1996). As discussed above, identity management requires that
individuals draw on a range of communicative resources (Goffman, 1976) to anticipate the
impact an identity performance will have on the intended audience and strive to engage in
behaviours that align with the meanings associated with a particular identity norm (Fiske, 1989;
Keltner, 1995) in a particular social context.
A propensity for anonymous interaction online might be expected to reduce social
inhibition potentially facilitating self-disclosure (and / or more candid feedback on the identity
performances of others). More control over time and pace of interactions, the ease of
identifying similar others, and more control over the content of social exchanges might also be
expected to facilitate selective (or strategic) self-presentation (Bareket-Bojmel et al, 2016).
Alternatively, the anonymity afforded in many online environments may make it easier (for
those who wish) to express the ‘real me’, an alternative internal conception of self not usually
expressed in social life (Bargh and McKenna, 2004) contributing to feelings of authenticity.
As Ibarra & Barvulescu (2010) argue, successful self-narratives are those that are both
internally and externally validated and more likely to be retained. Hennekam (2016) showed
how expectant working mothers engage in trial-and-error identity experimentation in order to
arrive at a version of the self-narrative that balances the desire for social acceptance with the
need for authenticity – a process found to be facilitated by the availability of relatable and
realistic role models.
We must also consider social media effects on the socio-psychological processes of
identity adaptation not least the extent to which digital traces of lived experiences may enhance
their accessibility - to both ourselves and others. When experiences are selected and articulated
for sharing online, "they tell the user your activity is this / 'These actions are yours and they
have meaning' " (Baldauf et al., 2017, 29). Moreover, in the context of online communities,
recounting experiences invites a response, whether that is confirmation, correction or denial.
Battarbee and Koskinen (2005), introduce the concept of co-experience that emphasises the
social dimension of individual experience online. The authors go on to describe how
subconscious experience migrates to become ‘an experience’ when events are lifted up from
the stream of events in everyday life and are evaluated as meaningful enough to be told to
others. Interaction partners may reciprocate experiences by empathising or sharing similar
stories of their own (Licoppe and Heurtin, 2001; Battarbee and Koskinen, 2005), thus the
experience (and the teller) is validated as meaningful. Alternatively, experiences brought to the
attention of others may be rejected or ignored by others if it is uninteresting or even offensive;
although attempts may be made to soften the blow, for example through humour or teasing, or
by changing the subject.
On an ongoing basis, by participating in online community discussions and sharing
experiences individuals may ‘test-run’ provisional identities by making identity claims,
observing and eliciting feedback and interpretations and reshaping how they see themselves
and how they imagine others perceive them (Weber & Mitchell, 2008). There are clear
parallels between the negotiation of meaning associated with communal and collaborative
practice (Anderson and Gaddefors, 2016) discussed above and the negotiated experiences of
self that underpin identity adaptation that seem particularly pertinent to entrepreneuring
mothers. There is synergy here also with the conceptualisation of the self as an ongoing
reflexive project proposed by Giddens (1991, p. 54), for whom, “a person’s identity is not to
be found in behaviour, nor—important though this is—in the reactions of others, but in the
capacity to keep a particular narrative going”.
Methodology
This research adopts a qualitative methodology whereby we deliberately sought to give
‘voice’ to women’s lived experiences (Hill et al., 2006). Our research design included three
stages (datasets are detailed in Table 1 below). Stage 1: Community orientation involved nonparticipant online observation of business related mumsnet.com discussion fora over an initial
period of three weeks and participant observation at the real-world Mumsnet Workfest event
held in London on May 14th, 2016. In Stage 2: Follow-up interviews, researchers conducted
thematic analysis of transcripts from semi-structured phone and skype interviews with
participants recruited at Workfest. Stage 3: Online discussion thread analysis, involved a more
systematic sampling approach and deep analysis of mumsnet.com discussion threads based on
keyword search terms appearing in thread titles. In this stage, elements of netnography
(Kozinets, 2002, 2019) were adopted to examine patterns of community engagement in more
depth. Such an approach is appropriate for the collection and analysis of data pertaining to
social processes as it enables insights into critical sociocultural patterns (Arnould &
Wallendorf, 1994), particularly around those shards of knowledge and experiences, shared by
members of a community, that have an influence on entrepreneurial practice and processes that
underpin identity adaptation.
Empirical Setting
The empirical setting for this research was Mumsnet.com; the UK’s largest online
network for parents, which attracts 9.4 million unique visitors per month (Mumsnet, 2017).
Online, Mumsnet’s Talk fora include thematic discussion boards focused on work and business
start-ups. Mumsnet also organises real-world educational and networking events, including
Workfest, a popular event, held for two years running in London and advertised as offering
“advice and inspiration for women in—or returning to—the workplace” (About Us – Mumsnet,
2017). Whilst there are many other women in business research contexts that might have been
selected, we argue that the mumsnet.com context might mitigate pressure to suppress the
mother role identity whilst talking ‘business’. Our preliminary observations confirmed that
mumsnet.com (in comparison to traditional masculinised business contexts) presents relatively
low barriers to entry for mothers’ embarking on an entrepreneurial path, providing a relatively
safe space in which to openly share lived experiences of combining motherhood and business
ownership thus providing a valuable novel context in which to examine how women
collectively interpret and negotiate the challenges of pursuing entrepreneurship and
parenthood. The opportunity to examine patterns of engagement across both on and online
platforms within the context of the same community host was also a significant factor in
selection of mumsnet.com as our empirical setting.
Data Collection
Each stage of our research design provided insights that informed the design of
subsequent steps (See Table 1).
----------------------------Insert Table 1 around here
----------------------------Stage 1 provided a preliminary assessment of the potential of mumsnet.com to enable
a community of practice. As per ethical guidelines, we introduced ourselves to mumsnet.com
administrators via email with a brief explanation of the project and its research aims and were
granted authorisation to post information about our project online, observe online discussions
and attend Workfest and recruit interview participants at the event. This approach allowed data
to be collected efficiently and unobtrusively. Two members of the research team were members
of mumsnet.com (and thus familiar with general community norms, abbreviations and
protocols) but had not previously engaged in business related discussions. Preliminary online
observations focused on discussion threads that provided insights pertaining to each of the three
defining characteristics of a CoP namely the Domain (the learning needs that members have in
common), the Community (how this is perceived by members and the extent to which collective
learning bonds members over time) and Practice (how interactions might produce a repertoire
of shared resources pertaining to entrepreneurship). During this process we identified
important, soft-signposted and therefore highly discoverable ‘seminal’ threads that were
downloaded for coding.
Through participant observations at the Workfest event, we drew further insights into
how mothers experienced a sense of community and the role of mumsnet.com in enabling a
CoP. Workfest was a pivotal event that had drawn us to mumsnet.com community members
who gathered to discuss and seek employment and entrepreneurship options to investigate their
career options beyond motherhood and we had wondered if what type of entrepreneurship was
on offer for the participants. By the end of the event, we were convinced that the conceptions
of entrepreneurship conveyed to participants were typical of the enterprise discourse and
support offered in the UK. What was striking, in hindsight, about our participation in the event
was that we observed the relationality and connection with the participants, and our intituion
brought to the surface the questions relating to the role of this community in motivating
entrepreneuriall endevour.
Scratch notes obtained during the event were then developed into full field notes in
June and July 2016 (Bryman & Bell, 2015) with the help of the audio recordings of all panel
discussions. In order to agree key themes and provide independent scrutiny of the interpretation
of the data, discussions took place among the research team both during and after the event,
and during the development of full field notes and a keynote presentation vignette.
Insights from Stage 1 informed the development of the interview schedule employed in
Stage 2 designed to probe mothers’ experiences of entrepreneurship and parenthood and use of
and attitudes towards mumsnet.com. Interviews were conducted over Skype and by phone
after the event at a time convenient for the participants. The interviews lasted between 60 and
90 minutes and were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Two members of the research team
were present for each interview. A purposive sample size of six, though small, was deemed
appropriate given our that our aim was not to generalise findings from a representative sample
or reach saturation from our content analysis, but instead to extend and contextualise findings
from Stage 1 observations. There were both Workfest event contributors (including a business
host who hosted a workshop on business planning but is not herself a mother) and delegates in
the sample. See Table 2 for profiles of interviewees.
----------------------------Insert Table 2 around here
----------------------------Finally, selected insights from analysis of interview transcripts informed a further stage
of more systematic sampling and analysis of discussion threads, which represents our main
dataset that revealed deeper insights into patterns of interaction within the online community
engaged in entrepreneurship. In the first instance, we identified threads featuring keywords
entrepreneur, mumpreneur and start-up in the title as these are most likely to be discovered by
newcomers to the site using the main search bar functionality. Second, we used the advanced
search functionality within the Talk section of the site to identify member posts occurring
anywhere in a discussion thread featuring keywords entrepreneur or start-up occurring in the
most relevant topic categories. These data sets were rendered more manageable by prioritising
the most recent active threads, but by this point, we were already close to the point of saturation.
Many of the new threads identified included passing references to ‘entrepreneur’ and so were
discarded. Key themes were then discussed and agreed upon, and a purposive sample of focal
threads was downloaded, printed, and coded by three researchers. The similarities and
differences in interpretation were discussed and resolved and codes revised. The data collection
and analysis continued until new threads disclosed no significant new features, thereby
signaling theoretical saturation (Strauss & Corbin, 1998).
Data Analysis
In analysing our rich data set, we followed Braun and Clarke’s (2006) protocol for thematic
data analysis. The research team began by compiling all the textual data including online
archival data, interview transcriptions, and field notes documenting events, conversations, and
observations. This process resulted in the generation of a comprehensive database that
facilitated the subsequent analysis framework to be implemented. In the first stage of the data
analysis, the research team members re-familiarised themselves with the data by iteratively
reading the transcripts and field notes. In the second stage, the open coding of the data was
performed to enable the identification of codes, which were then clustered together to form
categories.
The third stage led to the development of emergent themes that highlighted preliminary
connections between the data. The fourth stage was characterised by constant comparison
analysis in which data fragments were compared for similarities and differences (Strauss &
Corbin, 1998). In the fifth stage of analysis, the three themes of building, being and belonging
emerged as relevant to our research aim.
Our analysis of three data sets that were centered on the role of Mumsnet as a mothers’
community hub enabled us to explore, in particular, how online communities might enable
women to collectively interpret and negotiate the challenges they encounter when combining
parenthood and business development. Our Workfest participant observations provided
validation of the locus of enquiry at the community level; revealing strong evidence of the
affinity and camaraderie that existed between the entrepreneuring mothers, and of their
appreciation of a community context in which their mother role-identities need not be hidden.
The follow-up interviews provided in-depth insights into the mothers’ experiences of
combining entrepreneurship and parenthood, and the impact of the latter on work-related
attitudes and underscored the benefits of community engagement with respect to developing
entrepreneurial competencies. In the final stage of the analysis, which was informed and shaped
by the earlier ones, we performed extensive analysis of online discussion threads using Braun
and Clarke (2006) stages of qualitative data and distinguished specific community practices
and patterns of interaction of entrepreneuring mothers enabled by Mumsnet that supported their
identity transformation, revealing how the characteristics of the medium influence specific
community practices.
Findings
Our findings are summarised in Figure 1, which illustrate the first order concepts,
second order themes and the emergent aggregate dimensions of building, being and belonging.
Whilst these heading have emerged from our data, the work on these dimentions already esists
in the literature on entrepreneurship (Wade, Smith and Anderson, 2003), who in their original
philosophical study of the practice of entrepreneurship identified the ontological process of
becoming, being and belonging. Indeed, prior authors have coined these terms in relation to
entrepreneurship. For instance, Bygrave (1989:21) posited that entrepreneurship is “a process
of becoming rather than a state of being, evolving over time”; and for Chia (1996) it is one of
‘becoming’ and ‘being’. Another eminent scholar in the field, Gartner (1988:12) argued that
entrepreneurship entails a “state of being” and this is one of the main reasons for a narrow
focus on individual qualities not creation in the study of entrepreneurship. Furthermore, Hjorth
(2001:83) also presented the ontological process of becoming and pointed out the importance
of investigating how a concept becomes. Consequentially, Hjorth (2001:99/258) refers to the
“having become” of things and to “becoming other”. All these elements aptly describe the
entrepreneurial process. This offer a theoretical foundation to our empirical findings on how
mothers who engage in entrepreneurship transition through becoming entrepreneurial, to being
an entrepreneur and belonging to the entrepreneurial community. However, in our case the data
reveal a different sequence to the emergence of a mother who becomes an entrepreneur with
firstly building the social learning through community to belonging to the entrepreneurial
community to becoming an entrepreneur. For the purposes of efficient presentation of findings,
first order concepts are expressed in abbreviated terms, whilst remaining true to the informants’
experience of the phenomenon (Gehman et al., 2018). A further table of illustrative direct
quotes from online discussion threads may be found in the Appendix.
By contrast, second order themes and the aggregate dimensions that emerged from them
are informed by our understanding of the literature and in particular, communities of practice
as the principle analytical frame. The Building dimension aligns with the social learning focus
of CoPs - the exchange of tacit knowledge, development of shared resources and practical
problem solving. The Belonging dimension aligns with the importance of affiliation and social
exchange within a relational network that CoP theory makes explicit. The Being dimension
focusses on the importance of identity; becoming an entrepreneur whilst simultaneously being
a (good) mother. In the analysis below, we attempt to present evidence that both distinguishes
key dimensions of community engagement but also highlight the extent to which these
dimensions overlap – as anticipated in the context of a CoP in which personal and professional
development opportunities are embedded within communal action, discussion and social
exchange. Selected extracts and analytical commentary highlight the linkages between multiple
themes embedded in discussion threads. Where data and insights from each of the three phases
of collection is combined below; we use the codes [WF] Workfest [IV] interviews and [ON]
online discussion for to identify the source if not explicitly stated.
-----------------------------
Insert Figure1 around here
----------------------------BUILDING
Strong evidence from both interviews and online observation supports our conjecture
that entrepreneuring mothers derive significant utilitarian value from engaging with members
of the mumsnet.com community in business themed online discussions and events. Discussion
fora search functionality, mumsnet’s diverse membership and high levels of traffic and
participation in mumsnet TALK fora enabled very efficient exchange of tacit knowledge,
development of shared tools and resources and practical problem solving [IV, ON, WF]. One
thread entitled Who wants to be an entrepreneur? generated more than 410 posts while ‘active’
between August 2016 and January 2017. It remains among the top five results for the keyword
search ‘entrepreneur’ at the time of writing, underscoring the durability of content and its
potential value to future ‘lurkers’ on the site long after the original conversation has petered
out [ON].
We observed how women drew upon both their everyday parental and previous
employment experiences as a source of new business ideas and readily collaborated to refine
and develop ideas presented by members for feedback [ON and WF].
Ranging from ‘crowdsourcing’ brand names to identifying partners or suppliers, to
dealing with customers who are reluctant to pay, the nature of the challenges shared, and
problems discussed within the online fora varied. In particular, financial, technical, marketing,
and legal advice is commonly sought and offered, often from highly experienced individuals
even in niche specialisms, in effect creating a best-practice barter network. As one interviewee
(IV1 Workfest panelist and business owner – luxury goods manufacturing) explained,
“One of the big adjustments to start-up [from a previous position in a large organization] [is
that] you can still call in so many favors, but you can’t [afford to] pay for what I am used to
pulling in other people [to do], and you realize that you need to skill up yourself. I learn a lot
from other women in my networks. They are very clever in finding ways to skill up.”
Mumsnet does not allow self-promotion on public fora. Interviewees confirmed
however that engagement in discussion fora helps with reputation building and lead generation,
with free advice from knowledgeable experts prompting members to investigate member
profiles and follow up with direct messaging functionality provided by Mumsnet.
As per Mumsnet’s norms, responses to advice requests from aspirant or early-stage
entrepreneurs are largely supportive, but examples of ‘tough love’ are also abundant. Me-too
ideas such as personalised baby vests or business plans that ‘do not stack up’ financially attract
criticism [ON]. The community also effectively ‘outs’ any homeworking scams and pyramid
schemes in the interests of its members.
The accessibility and availability of online networks may be particularly valuable
during the early stages of venture development; barriers to entry are low, advice is free, and
users may readily access information and resources on a wide range of topics. One interviewee
IV3 (Workfest Speaker and Digtial Entrepreneur) had been signposted to a variety of online
and offline sources including Mumsnet’s chat fora, which she described as a “first point of call
when I need to know something, or to look something up business related, rather than ask
people.”
While the exchanges between aspiring peers are typically encouraging and supportive,
veterans are most likely to provide a ‘reality check’ as the below example demonstrates.
Extracts from Has anyone started their own business and NOT made any money? (46 Posts)
Am just starting out as self-employed. Have signed off JSA and am absolutely
terrified that it will all go tits up. I won't make a penny (online shop) and will end up
not being able to support me and the DCs. Am I overthinking it all and the majority
of new businesses succeed ......eventually? (Quoteinabizzlefam Fri 20-May-16
22:38:53)
My experience is that many women have zero confidence about employability after
being a sahm. I think you've shown huge resourcefulness already…making a full
living from scratch from a home business is really tough. Hope it works out in your
case. (allannandale Sat 21-May-16 20:49:30)
Yes you will be able to claim Working Family Tax Credit…I have been doing that
for five years, declaring earnings of five to six thousand. (MariaSklodowska Sat 21May-16 20:58:43)
Oh dear. Why did you sign off JSA [Job Seekers Allowance – an unemployment
benefit]? I work with start-ups fairly often. Rule of thumb: 3-5 years before you make
a living out of it. If you make minimum wage equivalent after a year, after taxes of
course, then you are doing really well (do you know how to do your business taxes?)
I hear lots of business cases built around the fact that the person really needs this to
work because they need the money and/or they need it for their self-esteem. Sadly,
that's not how it works. (RunRabbitRunRabbit, Sat 21-May-16 22:02:44)
The OP (original poster) above feels sufficiently comfortable in the context of mumsnet to
disclose her personal circumstances (single parent), precarious financial situation and feelings
of self-doubt. Frequent use of mumsnet.com abbreviations (DC = darling children, SAHM =
stay at home mum) suggest she feels a sense of affinity with the community. In response,
practical advice e.g. for maintaining an income stream whilst establishing the business and
information on specific sources of financial support is often interspersed with messages of
encouragement and support. The OP’s authentically shared experiences prompt peers to
reciprocate with their own stories that in turn serve to validate the OP’s decision to pursue an
entrepreneurial path and legitimise feelings of self-doubt following a period away from work.
Professional contributors identify themselves, “I work with start-up’s fairly often” and
emphasise the importance of proper research and planning – often implicitly or explicitly
opening the door, should the OP wish, to make contact via direct message.
BEING
Our findings underscore the extent to which becoming a parent impacts work-related
experiences, attitudes, and aspirations that, prompt many individuals to make significant workrelated changes [WF, IVs and ON]. For some, becoming a parent (or being a good parent) was
incompatible with their previous careers, creating a push towards entrepreneurship as an
alternative source of income, with many valuing the opportunity to work more flexible—
although not necessarily fewer—hours [IV, ON]. While mothers may perceive business
ownership as providing a more favorable work-life balance, there is far more evidence to the
contrary in the reported experiences of the majority of active entrepreneurs participating in the
online discussion fora, who, to get their businesses off the ground, typically report working
longer and more unsociable hours for little financial reward. Entrepreneurial narratives reveal
the complexity of mothers’ internal ‘cost-benefit’ analyses [IV and ON]. The answer to the
question Is it ‘worth it’ to return to work? appears dependent upon highly individualised
circumstances and associated identity projects [WF and ON].
Several interviewees and online discussion participants described how pregnancy and
motherhood had created a desire to pursue more challenging, meaningful, and personal goals
through work, in effect raising the threshold of the intrinsic reward sought from work especially
when it requires time away from family. For others, who reported feelings of dissatisfaction
before childbirth, becoming a parent had been a catalyst to pursue a path they had always
considered [IV]. Strong evidence emerged from both the interviews and online discussions that
attempts at ‘juggling’ responsibilities across multiple, and often incompatible, domains created
considerable identity dissonance. Example thread titles include, “Anyone in startup and a
SAHM [stay at home mum]”, “Entrepreneur Mums – How do you juggle it all? Help!” and
“Are three kids too much if you run your own business?”.
The tensions between attachment parenting ideals and the importance of individual selffulfillment could be detected particularly among middle-class women, for whom work was a
choice, as they attempted to articulate a coherent self-narrative, as the below extracts
demonstrate [evidence from IV and ON]. This may be interpreted as a genuine shift in priorities
or, alternatively, as a desire to justify time away from home and family in terms of a purpose
beyond profit—e.g., businesses that support women or children, employ staff on school hours,
or set a good example to children.
IV4 (educational services) “I want to be a role model for my daughter; a good
one! I want to be able to show her what I can do, and how much I can do, and that
it’s ok to make mistakes, but you sort of keep going.”
Pursuing an entrepreneurial career may therefore provide a self-synthesising solution
(to the extent that it is more readily internally validated as authentic) even if, in practice, the
desired work-life balance is not forthcoming. The following is an extract from a lively
discussion between a number of women working in (and seeking to leave) the legal profession
in which tensions between personal and social expectations of being a good mother, “I just
want to be with my daughter” and changing priorities are evident, “I am wasting my life with
it” [a legal career, that presumably took years of study and some commitment to achieve]
I'm on a career break at the moment but I really don't want to return. It's bad for my
confidence and stress levels and I feel like I'm wasting my life with it. It's not that I
want to do something mega fulfilling (though that would be wonderful), just something
that didn't deaden me. Been thinking about getting a baby product manufactured, but
actually I just want to be with my daughter so am considering setting up as a childminder with an Eco/Montessori twist. (donttrythisathome, Thu 08-Sep-11 22:39:06)
The extent to which start-up stories are often interwoven with highly personal and poignant
narratives of self-growth was evident in one noteworthy breakout session at Workfest. In the
session, entitled What we did next, previous attendees were invited to reflect on their
achievements one year later (all had pursued an entrepreneurial path). One researcher observed
how several audience members and panelists were moved to tears as they shared the highs and
lows of their entrepreneurial journeys [WF] The extent of personal disclosure and the sense of
intimacy created in the room may have enabled panelists and audience members to express
their feelings and insecurities more freely.
Similarly, interviewees shared the extent to which hearing and comparing their stories and
recognising similarities in the feelings and experiences of others who had gone on to be
successful in business had provided inspiration by helping them envisage a future
entrepreneurial self, as the following extract shows.
IV6 (Mumsnet delegate and business owner – counselling and skills development)
recalled how participation at a previous Workfest event had influenced her decision
to start her business, “I was listening to her life story [Baroness Michelle Mone –
Workfest speaker in 2015] and all the thingsthat she has been through and … when
she’d finished, I put my hand up … because one of the things for me was that I just
felt it was too late to go into business, being in my fifties was just too old. I was
scared and did not feel the confidence. So, I found that courage and said to her,
‘Next year, when I come back, I will have my own business up and running’. I’ve
always taught my children, my girls, that there is no such word as ‘can’t’… can’t
means shan’t and won’t! But I never took this advice for myself. I got there
[Workfest] and realized that I could, and I can! It took me a long time to realize
this!”
We observed similar exchanges online, with Mumsnet’s discussion threads appearing
to provide a safe space for mothers to reflect on and, articulate their experiences to share (and
compare) with the community.
Extracts from Entrepreneur Mums - how do you juggle it all? Help!! (9 Posts)
Is it possible to run your own biz with kids and a family to look after? My day NEVER
ends! We moved back to London, so I had to leave my previous job which I always
thought was such hard work and I am now starting my own business. Aack! 12- 15 hour
days! It's fun and learning lots but it's NUTS!! I feel like I never get to spend time with
my kids. Has anyone gone this route? Will I ever get my life back?
You have to view your business as another child. You have to nurture it, love it and
discipline it too. With the right mix it will grow into a successful individual. Personally,
I find a lot of the commonly used techniques for rearing children very useful in running
a business particularly managing staff. Set your rules and be very clear about them, be
consistent. 5 years down the line I am just beginning to reap the benefits of my
business.
As the extracts above demonstrate, by selecting events to re-tell and share as an
‘experience’, members effectively lift these thoughts, feelings and actions up from the
everyday. Thus, mothers’ entrepreneurial experiences are collectively maintained, supported
and elaborated within the community, acquiring meaning through social exchange. Through
this process participants’ self-presentations as entrepreneurs and mothers are offered up for
feedback providing fuel for ongoing identity adaptation and internal self-validation. These
findings are consistent with conceptualization of CoPs as providing opportunities for
participants to develop both personally and professionally (Lave and Wenger, 1991).
It is important to note one distinctive interviewee who by contrast revealed a strong
desire to distance herself from what she perceived to be negative associations of female
entrepreneurship and the Mumsnet context. For her Mumsnet.com was simply a means to an
end, a networking platform she used versus a community with which she identified. This
entrepreneur readily referred to other entrepreneuring women who she considered to be just
playing at business and considered the mumpreneurship label “horrific”. In her responses, she
continuously emphasized the respect and seniority she had enjoyed (and the resources she had
at her disposal) in her previous business career suggesting the maternal role identity is not
always more self-salient for women pursuing an entrepreneurial path post childbirth.
BELONGING
Mumsnet’s Workest provided a strong indication of the sense of affinity that exists
among entrepreneuring mothers. Despite most delegates attending alone, the informal and
welcoming atmosphere made every break in the schedule an opportunity to chat to the person
in the next chair. The researchers observed and participated in many such micro-exchanges
during which, within minutes, the participants had exchanged life stories and career aspirations
and had discussed the challenges associated with ‘juggling’ work and family. The convivial
atmosphere of the event and its association with the Mumsnet online community seemed to
mitigate any pressure the participants may have felt to hide or disguise their mother roleidentities, providing a relatively ‘safe space’ in which their voices could be heard, their
experiences legitimised, and their concerns and insecurities expressed without fear of
judgment. Statements such as “muddling through is an underrated skill”, “no one is exempt
from working mother guilt”, and “you are only ever as happy as your unhappiest child” stood
out from the preliminary panel discussion. A successful media executive had shared her
experience of missing her son’s first Harvest Festival concert due to an important business
meeting—something she had been unable to forget despite having no recollection at all of the
meeting itself. The panelists agreed unanimously that talking about these feelings helped
relieve the guilt because, “knowing that it’s not just you that feels this way is important”.
Supporting evidence that entrepreneuring mothers experience a sense of affinity
through community engagement emerged from the follow-up interviews. For example, IV5
explained how she had set up a successful Facebook community for her clients, while another
former blogger turned online retailer had developed an extensive online network from which
she derived both practical and emotional support.
It just means so much when somebody extends their hand to say, I found it hard too.
It’s not [just] about saying I hope you are ok… We have a group of twelve of us
[fellow entrepreneurs], and we are helping each other whenever we can; from moral
support, to sitting down and listening, and sharing… [We help each other] working
out how we exist, and how we grow, and we are all in the same boat. (IV2 Workfest
speaker: Online Retailer)
Similarly, the online exchanges were also characterised by spontaneity, openness,
generosity, and reciprocity, which seemed to help sustain a sense of belonging and commitment
to the community. One post, entitled AIBU1 [Am I Being Unreasonable] to be upset by a
friend’s reaction to my business idea? exemplified the nature of the emotional support offered
to members by virtual strangers connected by shared experiences. In the original post, one
member had expressed her disappointment after a ‘professionally successful’ friend had made
disparaging comments. Twenty-nine replies had been posted within 10 hours, many offering
support through shared experiences and feelings. Some responses from those with direct
experience of running their own businesses had also emphasised the importance of developing
resilience.
Hard to say. It could be a case of her being the 'successful' one in your friendship and
you might be upsetting the balance... but yeah, you need to toughen up a bit. I'm sure
you'll hear worse if you do start up. I started my own business late last year from
home, now looking to move into commercial premises and it’s amazing how many
1 The popular Mumsnet acronym AIBU [Am I Being Unreasonable] is used by members to compare
interpretations of reported experiences and events.
people you'd think would be supportive offer a negative opinion (thanks mum!). I just
smile sweetly, tell them my business plan stacks up, and cut the conversation there.
(CleanLinesSharpEdges Tue 13-Jan-15 12:46:54)
Other posts implicitly and explicitly (as below) revealed the extent to which the mumnset
context supported more honest and open self-disclosure as aspects of the mother role identity
did not need to be ‘hidden’ as they might in traditional business contexts.
Wow, thanks, loads of info and ideas... Will have a look at them amidst nitcombing... Grr. The kind of thing I definitely cannot mention on a 'proper' business
forum! (breadandbutterfly Sun 12-Jun-11 12:58:15)
Discussion
In following the social perspective on entrepreneurship (Anderson, et al. 2012) and
viewing entrepreneurship as a community based phenomenon (Anderson and Gaddefors,
2016), in this study we set out to understand how entrepreneuring mothers create and maintain
community connections that may facilitate development of entrepreneurial competencies,
support identity adaptation and potentially reconcile role tension using on and offline
engagement platforms hosted by Mumsnet.com. Figure 2 illustrates our conceptual framework,
in which the ontologically derived process of entrepreneuring: building, being, and belonging
are depicted as interrelated and overlapping dimensions of community engagement, that enable
women to develop a repertoire of shared tools and resources to enhance entrepreneurial practice
by sharing their lived experiences of combining parenthood and business ownership, i.e.,
relational practices.
---------------------------Insert Figure 2 Here
---------------------------Mumsnet’s business-themed talk topics provide a rich, yet readily accessible source of
information and advice for women entrepreneurs, especially relevant for early-stage business
development (building). Increasingly, as advice is sought and offered and interwoven with
more personal stories and aspirations, a sense of affinity and consciousness of kind develops
that underpins an ongoing commitment to the community (belonging). This, in turn, creates
reciprocal trust and conditions conducive to authentic self-disclosure, providing a space in
which a synthesising self-narrative may be collectively and discursively developed (being),
potentially enhancing mothers’ perceptions of entrepreneurial self-efficacy through exposure
to relatable online others successfully pursuing an entrepreneurial path (Austin and Nauta
2015; Rocha & Van Praag, 2020). We observed how mothers felt more confident discussing
business aspirations with fellow mothers in a familiar context characterised by shared and wellunderstood norms and etiquette, showcasing the communal nature of entrepreneurship
emergence (Anderson and Gaddefors, 2016). By contrast, a perceived lack-of fit in traditional
business networking contexts presents a barrier to entry, especially for early-stage or aspiring
entrepreneurs (Ozkazanc-Pan, 2014; Ozkazanc-Pan & Muntean, 2018; Harrison et al., 2020).
Mumsnet foregrounds the mother role-identity by default, facilitating self-disclosure and
contributing to its participants’ sense of a consciousness of kind, reciprocal trust and a ‘safe
space’ in which to share experiences.
We propose that Mumsnet, as host, enables a community of practice of entrepreneuring
mothers that is distinguished by connections distributed across both on and offline contexts.
Whilst the form and function of the CoP is shaped by key characteristics of the host and the
particular engagement platform (discussed below) it is not constrained by the boundaries of a
single web domain nor does depend on a single technological ‘solution’. Interviews with
entrepreneuring mothers revealed how spin-offs or sub-groups continually form and disperse
or migrate from one platform to another in order to better serve specific needs. While this
results in a notion of cohort that is more ephemeral than that initially proposed by Wenger
(2009) the mothers in our study nevertheless share common learning needs and experience a
strong sense of belonging and commitment to the community even if they only contributed to
online discussions sporadically. Of course, all networks may provide useful contacts and
support the development of social capital (Anderson et.al., 2007; Jack et al., 2008; McKeever,
et al., 2014), but this does not necessarily make them CoPs. In a traditional business network,
participation is predicated on the utility of contacts and the expectation of reciprocal exchange
of value (Jack et al., 2008). By contrast, members of a CoPs engage in co-creation of shared
resources presenting opportunities both for professional development and personal growth.
Our analysis shows how the community connections (Jack et al., 2008) established by
entrepreneuring mothers both fulfills and exceeds the functional requirements of a CoP
proposed by Wenger (2009). Mumsnet.com hosted interactions enable the development of an
extensive shared repertoire of resources and tools that may be drawn upon to enhance
entrepreneurial practice and facilitate member perceptions of belonging and legitimacy (De
Clerq and Voronov, 2009; Anderson and Gaddefors, 2016) – that is a particular challenge for
entrepreneuring mothers. In more recent developments of CoP theory, there is greater emphasis
on how identity is formed across practices and not just within practices (Omidvar & Kislov
2014). Our analysis reveals how participation in a diverse and distributed CoP supports
development of individuals’ knowledgeability or capacity to know something about a wide
range of practices without necessarily being able to claim competence in a specific niche.
Through our analysis of this particular CoP of entrepreneuring mothers, we have shown how
individuals benefit from a wide range of practical resources and emotional support to rapidly
upskill, pivot, plug gaps in knowledge and identify collaborative partners to support them in
their pursuit of entrepreneurial goals. We thus contribute to understanding of how individuals
modulate their relationships with complex and overlapping landscapes of practice that
characterise the field of entrepreneurship in general but are further complicated for individuals
positioned as contradictory to the ‘natural order’ (De Beauvoir, 1949; Butler, 1990; Anderson
and Warren, 2011; Ozkazanc-Pan, 2014; Ozkazanc-Pan & Muntean, 2018; Stead, 2017).
In relation to the ongoing identity adaptation of entrepreneuring mothers, a strong sense
of affinity and reciprocal trust, enhanced by the context off a ‘safe space in which to share’
underpins continued commitment to this particular CoP and facilitates ongoing identity
adaptation. We observed evidence of shared purpose amongst entrepreneuring mothers, despite
the pursuit of highly individualised business goals and diverse personal circumstances. Indeed,
Anderson and Gaddefors (2016) proposed that communities can be the centers of shared
meanings, and the community participants need to learn and share of some of these meanings
and practices in order to achieve belonging to this community. In articulating and sharing their
entrepreneurial experiences, women in effect co-create a discursive repertoire that fuels the
shared identity work of this specific entrepreneurial community. Importantly, we observed how
interactions in on and offline engagement platforms are replete with gender role-identity cues,
with the mother role identity central to members’ self-presentations. We thus argue that
members are better equipped to ameliorate role tension in such focused communities, whist in
contrast, gender role-identities are often suppressed in more traditional business networking
contexts due to pervasive masculinised entrepreneurial ideals.
Brown et al. (2008) argue that narrating plays an important role in the sensemaking
process particularly during challenging life transitions. We propose that mumsnet.com serves
as a co-experience platform that facilitates self-narrative experimentation and development. As
women reflect on and hold up selected experience to share with others, they are able to validate
diverse experiences of juggling entrepreneurship and motherhood (being an entrepreneur)
supporting the development of the self-belief and psychological resilience required to start up
and succeed on an entrepreneurial career path. Entrepreneuring mothers experience identity
dissonance as they attempt to reconcile role performances in the often-incompatible domains
of business ownership and parenthood. Given the stark differences between the conventional
context or ‘stage’ on which business and domestic life is performed, identity gaps are
exaggerated and inevitable (Jung & Hecht, 2004; Hecht et al., 2003). Performance continuity
becomes an issue whenever home and work collide—a constant challenge for home-based
enterprises. Tensions may emerge in as the demands of a growing business necessitate the reallocation of domestic responsibilities perpetuating internal narratives of guilt and self-doubt
are perpetuated. We propose that participating in a CoP alleviates (even if only temporarily)
these perceived identity gaps, thus reducing the cognitive load and emotional strain associated
with maintaining a consistent self ‘performance’ or, as Swail and Marlow (2018) suggested,
the guilt women find themselves dealing with for attenuating the feminine and accentuating
the masculine. As women reflect on and articulate the actions, thoughts, and feelings they share
with others online, they present their experiences in more relatable ways—potentially
reflecting back the power of the online ‘others’ they encounter in a community context (Lopez,
2009).
Further, our analysis suggests a number of ways in which key characteristics of the host
and the online environment might enhance some of the benefits women seek and derive from
engagement in this distinctive CoP. As expected, the use of anonymous mumsnet ‘tags’ did
appear to contribute to a degree of disinhibition online, potentially facilitating self-disclosure
and also stimulating some very candid feedback on the shared experiences. The care with which
both novice and more experienced contributors communicate their credentials and embed
identity cues within their requests and responses is evident; the asynchronous communication
context providing far more control over self-performances that in turn might be expected to
enhance key processes of identity negotiation thorough social exchange. The extensive work
on computer mediated communication conducted by Walther (1993, 1996) illuminates some
of the positive biases in play that may lead to idealised perceptions of online interaction
partners and of their potential influence. When non-verbal communication cues are limited,
those that are present (similar work frustrations and home circumstances, or shared passions)
may assume special significance. In addition, a strong sense of group affiliation (with the
Mumsnet community) may enhance self-categorisation tendencies and lead to the online others
being perceived as more similar and exerting greater influence (Phillips & Broderick, 2014).
Taken together, this may normalise entrepreneurship for parents, challenge gender stereotypes
about what constitutes appropriate work for mothers, and nurture perceptions of entrepreneurial
self-efficacy.
Taken together these largely technological affordances of this specific CoP appear to
play a big part in creating a safe space for authentic disclosure and in which readily accessible
emotional support and empathy is on offer at any time of day or night. We have shown that
Mumsnet’s ‘nest of vipers’ provides support, challenging debate, inspiration, and
encouragement but also tough love or a reality check when needed. Among the ‘witty banter’,
a powerful emancipatory discourse emerges around the lightning rod label of
‘mumpreneurship’, as exemplified by the discussion thread AIBU [Am I Being Unreasonable]
to want to stab someone whenever I hear the word mumpreneur. These discussions challenge
the acceptance of gendered divisions of labor (what a woman’s work is or should be) and
negative judgments of female entrepreneurial endeavors; the implication being that women
cannot do ‘proper entrepreneurship’. Instead, our findings corroborate the argument that
mothers derive inherent satisfaction from creatively merging work and family (Brush, 1992;
Ekinsmyth, 2013) and finding values-congruent ways of conducting business (Jennings &
Brush, 2013).
Conclusion
This article was inspired by the totality of work of Professor Alistair Anderson, who
argued for social perspective in entrepreneurship, and developed several seminal works that
called for better accommodation of social interactions and appreciation of context in studies of
entrepreneurship. This article focused on a specific group of entrepreneurial actors - women,
who are also mothers - and their practice of entrepreneuring which they develop by seeking,
receiving and giving help via a social networking site- mumsnet.com. In this paper we show
how entrepreneuring mothers create and maintain community connections with important
others in an online environment that facilitate development of entrepreneurial competencies,
support identity adaptation and potentially reconcile role tension. Our article examined the
characteristics of the community engagements facilitated by Mumsnet, and shows how
entrepreneuring mothers’ community engagement through interaction in the discussion fora
responding to specific information seeking, as well as advice and emotional support giving
may in fact support the development of a range of entrepreneurial competencies through
facilitation of shared lived experiences of combining parenthood and business ownership, and
thereby showcasing the relational nature of the entrepreneurial practices, that emerge from
within the community. Our central theoretical contribution is the three dimensions of
entrepreneurial community engagement that underpin this process: building (productive
networking and information exchange), belonging (support and social anchorage) and being
(identity adaptation and self-narrative co-creation). Whilst in most CoPs, the cohort is united
in pursuit of common business goals, mumsnet represents a context, where both business and
identity goals are highly individualised, yet nevertheless a sense of togetherness in adversity
emerges for members as women share their attempts to reconcile their role performances in
competing and sometimes incompatible domains of motherhood and entrepreneurship.
We make two theoretical contributions in this article. Our first contribution is to the
literature that views entrepreneurship as a practice originating in communities (Anderson and
Gaddefors, 2016) and its relational and social origins (Anderson, et al., 2012), as we reveal a
novel empirical setting of social media platforms which offers opportunities for women to
collectively make sense, interpret and navigate the identity transitions and transformations that
also merge the practices of parenthood and entrepreneurship. Our proposed conceptual model
of three overlapping domains of community engagement where entrepreneuring emerges:
Building, Being and Belonging make identity transformations more explicit, as we were able
to observe how women articulate and share their entrepreneurial experiences, and in effect cocreate a discursive repertoire to help engage in the shared identity work of this specific
entrepreneurial community. As mothers engage in productive networking and make sense of
their work and family lives collaboratively with other members of the CoP, women enhance
their entrepreneurial competencies whilst building a sense of belonging and entrepreneurial
identity. This contribution is an important addition to the stream of works on the social science
perspective in entrepreneurship and seeing entrepreneurship as a relational and situational
practice (Anderson et al. 2012). Our second contribution is to the literature on entrepreneurial
identity (Ladge, et al, 2012; Stryker and Burke, 2000; Watson, 2009), whereby we underscore
the patterns of engagement in an online community that entrepreneuring mothers activate
during their ongoing identity adaptation. Specifically, in the article we showcase the specific
characteristics of the community host and of the supporting technology that combine to
alleviate possible identity dissonance and help facilitate self-disclosure to seemingly similar
others with whom people build relationships online.
Therefore, our research underscores the significance of community at the heart of the
entrepreneurial process (Anderson and Gaddefors, 2016) and extends our understanding of
CoPs incorporating but not being constrained to online platforms. Our study illuminates that
women (and men) may reap the benefits of participation in CoPs at all stages of their venture
development, but perhaps particularly when their entrepreneurial endeavor is motivated by
self-actualisation, identity dissonance-reduction, or a quest for more intrinsically satisfying,
meaningful, or values-congruent work. We have identified some of the properties of Mumsnet
(solidarity, feminism, mother role identity) and its supporting technology (online disinhibition
and potential for hyper personal communication and perceptions of similarity with others) that
create conditions conducive to authentic self-disclosure and may serve to alleviate identity
gaps. We have shown how a productive network can also be a vital source of social anchorage,
support, and empowerment—when women authentically share lived experiences (i.e.,
emotions, fears, hopes, dreams, and life stories). Further, we have explained how certain
characteristics of the online medium may enhance the positive influence of in-group role
models encountered online and inoculate against gender stereotypes, thus enhancing members’
sense of a ‘safe space’ in which their diverse experiences of juggling entrepreneurship and
motherhood may be validated, and legitimacy may be collectively conferred.
This research contributes more broadly to our understanding of alternative modes of
entrepreneurial organising and may offer some explanatory power in other contexts, such as
the lifestyle oriented or pro-social enterprises that are also often associated with ‘smallness’.
As such future research could explore whether our proposed conceptualisation of CoP
engagement has explanatory power in other passion-driven, value-based, and self-actualising
entrepreneurship contexts, for example, craft and creative businesses, lifestyle
entrepreneurship and social enterprise.
References
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